Selectmen endorse BRMC redevelopment
Published on August 20th, 2008
STONEHAM, MA - The Selectmen unanimously endorsed the redevelopment of the old Boston Regional Medical Center (BRMC), setting-up a potential showdown between the Burlington proprietor and state officials over the construction project.
During their most recent meeting, the Selectmen supported The Gutierrez Company's proposal to raze the existing hospital facility in order to erect a state-of-the-art, six-story, office building at the site.
The main BRMC building, which has been vacant for nearly a decade, is located across from Spot Pond on a 41-acre site bordering the Melrose, Malden, and Medford lines.
“The proposal is to demolish the existing 350,000 square foot hospital building, which has been vacant now for nine years,” said local attorney Charles Houghton. “We would not do it immediately, right now.”
“It [the construction project] could happen next month or next year. My client typically doesn't build until he has a tenant,” said Houghton, who didn't address recent rumors that a movie studio is interested in the site.
Opposing the site plan approval, William DaBeer, representing a group of doctors in an adjoining medical office building, insisted that the Gutierrez Company needed to address a variety of project-related impacts.
In particular, the attorney claimed that the applicant had failed to show what impact the project would have on traffic at the site.
Because the doctors would share the same accessway and exit at the site, DaBeer felt it would only be appropriate for Gutierrez to show that no adverse impacts to the existing medical practices would result.
The lawyer further contended that the developer had been ordered by the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA) to submit a review to their office for approval, before any shovels were put in the ground.
“As far as I know, the only traffic studies that were ever submitted were done so a number of years ago,” said DaBeer. “One suggestion is that the obtaining of all state permits be part of the site plan approval.”
While DaBeer referred to a July 3, 2008 letter from EOEA head Ian Bowles that appears to order Gutierrez to submit to further environmental scrutiny, Gutierrez Company representative William Caulder dismissed that interpretation.
“We don't need state permits for this project. Local approval is what we need,” said Caulder, who claimed that once all local approvals were obtained, the project could commence.
The Burlington firm, which purchased the property for $20 million nearly a decade ago, has been repeatedly stymied in its attempts to develop the parcel.
Most recently, the company has been fighting to erect 405 housing units at the site under the state's affordable housing or Chapter 40B regulations, as well as create 225,000 square feet of commercial space at the parcel.
However, a slew of local environmental activists - wary of such a large project's impact on the surrounding Fells Reservation - have successfully teamed-up with opponents in Melrose, Medford, Winchester, and Malden to block the development on the state level.
According to Mike Ryan, the executive director of the Friends of the Fells, the Selectmen should heed the letter from Bowles and work to identify some type of reduced build project.
At the very least, the environmental activist suggested, local officials should demand that the company obtain the required state approvals before moving forward with the six-story office building.
“If the proponent is right that there are no impacts for this project, they can show that data to the decision maker for approval,” said Ryan, referring to Caulder's inference that the project will not exceed any of the environmental thresholds that trigger a mandatory state review.
Ignoring DaBeer and Ryan, the Selectmen refused to bow to pressure for construction be delayed until the state permits are obtained.
However, because the entire development's utilities are dependent upon the hospital building, the town officials did mandate that Gutierrez find a way to raze the structure without interrupting service to the adjacent doctors' practices.
“I will not be requiring this developer to do anything he doesn't have to do,” said Selectman Frank Vallarelli. “We've been sitting here with this property long enough. I'm tired of people from other towns telling us what to do.”
According to Houghton, his clients will still need to meet several times with local and regional officials before construction so that the future of several public safety communication devices can be determined.
That equipment, which serves regional law enforcement and firefighting interests, needs to be safely relocated before demolition can begin.
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